IUCN threat status:

Brief Summary

Description

There are only three species of Peccaries in the world, all in South America. Only Collared Peccaries also live in North America. Their range includes a great variety of habitats, and they eat all kind of vegetation, including cactus. They live in highly social and communicative groups. Grooming is an important social behavior, and they have at least 15 different types of calls signaling alarm, submission, and aggression. Territorial groups of 15-50 animals stay together, and cooperate to defend the herd, but they form subgroups that disperse to feed. An alpha male is the dominant animal in the herd. Peccaries often have twins.